Will Yet Another Company Be In The Running To Buy Silverstone?

Understandably, there's a lot of demand for the home of British motorsport.

Those of you who've been keeping track of the whole Silverstone bidding process will know it's had a few twists and turns in recent times. It all started when Porsche allegedly blocked Jaguar Land Rover's offer, and became even more interesting when the boss of the tiny British sports car maker Ginetta revealed he'd also be pitching his own bid for the Silverstone rights. And now, we've got The Daily Telegraph claiming another party is interested in purchasing the track in Northamptonshire.

As reported in the Telegraph, Jonathan Palmer (the former Formula 1 driver and father of current Renault F1 pilot Jolyon Palmer) has expressed an interest in owning the track. Or, to be more specific, the intrigue is on behalf of his company MotorSport Vision (MSV), which hosts an array of events at the quartet of British racing circuits it currently owns. Considering MSV's business model, it's understandable why Palmer has revealed he'd be up for adding the 'home of British motorsport' to the line-up of facilities at his disposal. When you hear a flagship venue like Silverstone is potentially up for grabs, you'll do everything in your power to acquire it.

There is, though, one problem stopping Palmer and MSV from placing a bid for Silverstone's 249-years-long lease: the track's current owner, the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC), hasn't formally approached MSV with an offer to place a bid for the track rights. Considering the BRDC hasn't seemingly made that much money (if any) off the track, it's surprising to hear that you need to be contacted by the BRDC first before you're eligible to make an offer for Silverstone, but that's how it seemingly rolls. If we were sitting in the Club's management positions, though, we'd be rather interested in finding out what Palmer and MotorSport Vision would be willing to fork out for the Silverstone lease.